If you want your years of hard work in the garden to pay off, you’ll need to properly store your dried and cured cannabis after harvest.
Keep your cannabis in a dark, cold spot away from direct sunlight and in an airtight container (like a mason jar) that you can easily open and seal.
Storage Reasons: Why It’s Crucial to Keep Medical Marijuana in the Right Conditions
- An increase in the longevity of your plant material is only one benefit of storing your cannabis buds properly.
- Preserve the cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids found in the trichomes.
- Curing cannabis can enhance its flavour.
- Do all you can to stop mildew and mould from growing on the bud.
Where to Keep Marijuana
Marijuana products should be stored in a dark, cool, dry place away from light (UV light). While you can’t stop the passage of time, you can shield your flower from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays.
There is a higher chance of mould or mildew developing on your cannabis if the location is damp or has high levels of ambient moisture, and mildew and other moulds on cannabis and other organic matter flourish in high temperatures between 77°F and 86°F.
In order to preserve the integrity of your cannabis, never store it over a heat source such as a stove or microwave.
Always make sure your cannabis bloom is far from any kind of water (not near taps or pipes). If you’re fortunate enough to have access to a wine cellar, that’s the best relative humidity range for storing cannabis as well. In the end, it’s best to keep cannabis away from either extremely high or extremely cold temperatures.
Dry cannabis is best stored in low cabinets, on shelves, or in a basement that is protected from flooding.
High-Quality Receptacles for Cannabis
Glass jars or ceramic containers with tight-fitting lids are ideal for storing marijuana. Do not use any containers made of metal or plastic.
Never fill a container more than halfway. This will enable oxygen to reach the buds during the curing process, which will aid in preventing mould growth but will not hasten the oxidation process that will cause your cannabis to degrade (i.e., when exposed to too much oxygen alters the desired effects or potency of the cannabinoids in your weed).
It’s helpful to have a variety of jars of varying sizes so you may divide the bloom into smaller containers as you consume it. By doing so, you may preserve the trichomes and flavour of the plant and prevent the bud from drying out too much throughout the curing process.
Jars that can be made into Masons
Mason jars, which are also called “canning jars” and “fruit jars,” are sturdy, cylinder-shaped containers that are often constructed of glass and work well for storing cannabis. Pickles and preserves can be stored in any one of several different-sized glass mason jars.
These jars are perfect for storing cannabis since they include a large mouth and a rubber seal, as well as a clasp for securely closing the lid. This generates a vacuum barrier that keeps out air and significantly minimises the cannabis’ odour.
PVC with a Hermetic Seal
Vacuum-sealing your cannabis makes sense, as it stops air from getting to your cannabis and keeps its potency for up to 18 months, but regular plastic baggies should be avoided for keeping cannabis (the trichomes attach to plastic).
There is less chance of trichomes sticking to the edge of the bag in a vacuum-sealed cannabis package since the cannabis cannot move about. Vacuum sealing is superior to other methods of long-term cannabis preservation since it significantly minimises the plant’s distinctive aroma.
Vacuum-sealed cannabis still requires storage in a dark, cool, and dry area. Also, after the bag is opened, you’ll want to put the cannabis in a more permanent storage solution, and this is where mason jars come in.
Storing things in an airtight ceramic jar
For the safe storage of cannabis, a well-made ceramic container with an airtight top is just as excellent as a mason jar.
Putting Cannabis in the Freezer?
Since mould thrives in humid environments, storing cannabis in a refrigerator is a bad idea. Isn’t it true that you can freeze cannabis? Okay, so there could be benefits to it (and disadvantages).
The natural process of decarboxylation (a chemical reaction that removes a carboxyl group and generates carbon dioxide, or “CO2”) may be greatly slowed by vacuum sealing a bag of cannabis and storing it in a deep freezer.
This can prolong the cannabis’s shelf life from one to two years. Freezer burn can occur if air gets into the bag, so make sure it’s vacuum sealed.
The trichomes in cannabis might be damaged or lost due to the brittleness that results from freezing. If the bag isn’t sealed properly, moisture might seep through and cause mould to form which can affect medical marijuana treatment. When thawing cannabis, it is also helpful to avoid water damage to the buds by keeping out as much moisture as possible.
We advise against putting cannabis in the freezer unless you can vacuum seal it first.
Preparing Marijuana for Long-Term Storage
It’s important to dry and cure cannabis thoroughly before storing it for extended periods of time. Mould and mildew are more likely to develop on cannabis that has not been thoroughly dried.
A mason jar is the best way to store your weed if you plan on utilising it within a year and a half. If you do not plan on using your cannabis for a time, vacuum sealing and keeping it in a cool, dark, dry place is ideal.
Briefly Summing Up
The quality of your cannabis experience and the quantity of trash you generate may both be greatly improved by proper storage, which can save you money. With the right care, cannabis of a particularly tasty strain may be enjoyed a year after it was harvested. It could even have a superior flavour!
There is a common belief that cannabis “peaks” anywhere from three to twelve months into the curing process, with a subsequent decline in both strength and quality after the eighteenth-month mark.
You may get the most out of your cannabis crop if you store it in a suitable container for the long term, such as those listed above. Placement considerations include avoiding exposure to extremes of humidity, UV light, and temperature.
Is it okay to store cannabis in a plastic bag?
Keep your weed away from plastic bags since the trichomes will stick to the bag and diminish the quality and strength of your cannabis. A vacuum-sealed plastic bag is the only safe way to store your cannabis.
Assuming it’s been properly stored, how long will cannabis remain potent?
How you keep it in storage will determine this. However, if properly maintained, cannabis has a shelf life of around two years before its quality noticeably declines. Cannabis stored in a mason jar has a shelf life of around a year and a half at most.
What is the best temperature to keep marijuana?
The recommended temperature for weed storage is roughly 68 degrees Fahrenheit, according to most sources. Too much heat might dry up the bud in your cannabis crop if you store it for too long. Avoid subfreezing temperatures unless you’re going to vacuum wrap your bud.
Finally
We know you might be curious to find out more information and discuss medicinal cannabis uses, or where to get legal medicinal cannabis products in Australia, who is authorised to prescribe medicinal cannabis products to you, and we know lots of people are also worried about the use of medicinal cannabis.
For all these inquiries; including most medicinal cannabis products available on the market, prescribing medicinal cannabis, information about smoking cannabis, how to bring medicinal cannabis product on travel, medical conditions that can be cured by medical cannabis products, recreational cannabis, other general use of cannabis, you should schedule a consultation session today with our experts at Chronic Therapy to get medical professionals advice about any of the above mentions.